Apparatus for fluid treatment of synthetic filaments



1965 F. J. CLENDENING, JR 3,169,295

APPARATUS FOR FLUID TREATMEANT 0F SYNTHETIC FILAMENTS Filed Feb. 14,1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 75 M INVENTOR ATTORNEY FRANCIS JOSEPH CLENDENING,JR.

1965 F. J. CLENDENING, JR 3,169,296

APPARATUS FOR FLUID TREATMEANT OF SYNTHETIC FILAMENTS Filed Feb. 14,1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 TREATING FLUID INVENTOR FRANCIS JOSEPH CLENDENINGJR.

ATTORNEY United States latent O l 3 169,296 AFLAFATUS; FUR TLUTDTREATMENT GE SYNTHETEQ FELAMEQTS Francis Joseph Clendening, 35s.,Wilmington, Bah, assigner to E. I. du Pout de Neniours and Company,Wilmington, Bel a corporation of Delaware Eiled Feb. 14, 1963, Ser. No.258,461 6 Glairns. ('Cl. 231) This invention relates to apparatus foruse in treating synthetic filaments with hot gas or stream to introducea curvilinear crimp, improve dyeability or modify other properties, andis more particularly concerned with jet treatment devices which can bestrung up with a rapidly moving filamentary strand without breaking anendless strand. Since these devices are especially useful for providingbulk in multifilament yarn or tow, they will be referred to hereinafteras bulking jets. However, they are also useful for treating filamentarystrands with fluids for other purposes, in various processes known tothose skilled in the art.

The bulking jets of the present invention are most us ful for the typesof yarn treatments disclosed in greater detail in I-Iallden, in, et al.,US. Patent No. 3,005,251 dated October 24, 1961, and Claussen et al. US.Patent No. 3,055,080 dated September 25, 1962, both issued to theassignee of the present application. Treatment with the bulking jets ofthese patents requires starting with free ends of yarn, as in treatmentof yarn fed from a package. The free end of yarn must be passed throughthe bulking jet and transferred to yarn forwarding means beforecontinuous operation can begin. This string-up procedure is notpracticable for starting the treatment with yarn forwarded continuouslyfrom another operation at high speed, as when the fluid treating processis coupled with other continuous yarn manufacturing or treating steps.

The present invention provides an improved type of bulking jet which canbe strung up easily with an endless strand of yarn or tow which istraveling past the jet at high speed, without breaking the strand toprovide a free end or otherwise interrupting the continuous travel ofthe strand. Other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the disclosure and claims.

The bulking jet of the invention has a recessed body portion, aremovable core which mates within the body recess, guide means forpositioning the core within the body, and locking means for holding thecore in position in the body. The body recess is preferably acylindrical hole extending completely through the body, but a variety ofrecesses are suitable. A slot is provided through the body to the holeso that an endless strand of yarn or tow can be strung up to passaxially through the hole, without breaking the strand to provide a freeend. An inlet for gas or steam is drilled through another portion of thebody to exit through an orifice duct into the hole. The strand is ledpast this orifice through inlet and exit passages cut into one or bothof the mating surfaces of the body and core. The strand inlet passage ispreferably only slightly larger than the strand to avoid excessiveescape of gas or steam through this inlet. The exit passage is largeenough for the strand and treating gas to exit together. It ispreferably of a venturi shape and leads to a tunnel on the end of thecore for guiding the treated strand onto a conveyor having a foraminousreceiving surface for separating the strand from treating fluid. Anenlarged treating chamber may be located between the stand inlet andexit passages where intercepted hltiiljde Fatented Feb. 16, 1965 by thestream of gas or steam from the orifice to provide more effectivetreatment.

In the drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments of the invention,

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred form of bulkingjet,

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional side elevation of the core of this bulkingjet, the section being taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional side elevation of the bulking jet body,the section being taken on line 33 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional side elevational view corresponding toFIGURES 2 and 3, but of an assembled bulking jet, to show a modifiedform of treatment charn ber,

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FlGURE 4 of anotherembodiment of bulking jet,

FIGURE 6 is a front view of a bulking jet body similar to that of FIGURE3 but having plural orifice ducts for treating fluid, and

FIGURE 7 is a schematic illustration of an arrangement of apparatus forfeeding yarn through the bulking jet, including foraminous conveyormeans for receiving treated yarn from the bulking jet.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 3, the body 10 of the bulking jet has acentral recess formed by cylindrical hole 11 and string-up slot 12, bothextending from top to bottom of the body. The bottom portion of the slotis flared outward to form a tunnel 13 for yarn or tow leaving the body.A core 14 fits snugly in cylindrical hole 11. A block 15, secured to thetop of the cylindrical portion of the core, seats on top of the bodyllil to position the core. This block has a projecting key 16 which fitsin the string-up slot 12 to assist in positioning the core. A jack screw17 is used to lock the core in position in the body. This is screwed inor out of the back side of the core by turning handle 18. Collar 19 onthe screw fits in grooves 20 and 21 on each side of the stringup slot12. When the core is positioned in the body recess, the jack screw isturned to press the front side of the core tightly against the matingsurface of the body recess.

The front side of the core 14 is machined to provide an inlet passage 22for yarn or tow, a treatment chamber 23, and a venturi-shaped exitpassage 24 for yarn or tow and gas, steam or other treating fluid. Theseare open on the outer side of the core for introducing yarn or towduring string up. They are closed by the mating surface of the body whenthe core is positioned in the recess 11. The bottom of the core isprovided with a tunnel 25 for exiting yarn or tow, corresponding totunnel 13 in body 16. The handle 26, for use when inserting or removingthe core from the body, has a threaded portion 27 which screws into thecore to secure both the handle and the block 15 to the cylindricalportion of the core.

The front face of the body 10 is drilled to provide an inlet 28 fortreating fluid which terminates in an orifice duct 29 of smallerdiameter and angled in the direction of yarn travel. The orifice islocated so that the stream of gas or steam is directed into the treatingchamber 23 along a path which lies in the same plane as the axis of yarninlet passage 22 when the core is positioned within the body. The angleor between the stream and the direction of yarn travel into the chamber,-i.e., the included angle defined by the axis of the orifice duct andthe axis of the yarn inlet passage 22, should be from 10 to andpreferably from 20 to 45. The surface of chamber 23 opposite the orificeis angled away from the wall p to reduce wear.

3, in asap in the art, for example, as in England et al. US. Patent No.3,084,134 or Steijn US. Patent No. 3,080,135, both issued March 5, 1963,to the assignee of the present ap-' plication.

This bulking jet is strung up with the core retracted as in FIGURE 1.The yarn or tow is guided through slot 12, to pass through hole 11 ofthe body, and through the open yarn passages 22-24 of the core.accomplished with a continuous moving yarn or 'tow,

' :side of the wall to prevent escape of the ball when the icore isremoved from the body.

The other ball 36 is i :similarly retained within an opening 41 throughthe Wall.

, inserts, or by hard surface coatings known to those skilled This isreadily there being no need for a free end. The core is then positionedin the body and secured with the jack screw as described. Treatment ofthe yarn or tow can begin ing string-up.

The bulking jet of the present invention is suitable for treating theyarn or tow in accordance with the process conditions disclosed in thereferenced patent to Hallden et al., and has the advantage that itisadapted for use in a-coupled process. Thus the jet can be psoitioneddirectly after a high speed drawing operation to bulk the drawn yarnwith hot gas or steam in'a continuous process. Preferably, the bulkingjet is mounted with the bottom close to conveying means having aforaminous at once since the treating fluid need not be shut offdursurface for receiving the yarn or tow from the jet and separatingitfrom the treating fluid, as illustrated in FIGURE 7, which showsscreen-surfaced drum conveyor 5 positioned at the. exit of bulking jet4. Yarn ltravels between feed rolls 2 and 3 to pass at controlled speedthrough the bulking jet, which is supplied with the treating fluid. Thetreated yarn 6 is deposited on the screen surface 7 of the drum and isconveyed away from the treating fluid through tunnels and 13in the coreand body of the bulking jet. The yarn coo-ls while being conveyed on thescreen, and cooling maybe assisted by spraying with water. The yarn iswithdrawn from the drum surface by a pair of take-off rolls 8, 9 andthen passes to further processing, which may be merely packaging forshipment. I

A number of modifications can be made in the bulking jet withoutdeparting from the basic features of the embodiment already disclosed.The hole 11 in thejbody and the mating core 14 can have variousnon-circular cross-sections, such as triangular, square, rectangular orhexagonal. The yarn passageways and treatment chamber may be modifiedfor optimum results. with specific yarns or treatments. One modificationof the bulking jet of FIGURES 1 to 3 is illustrated in FIGURE 4, whichshows a bulking jet assembled for operation. The treatment chamber andexit passage for yarn and treating fluid :are combined in one passage ofuniform cross section. This is much simpler to fabricate than the cham-'ber 23 and exit 24 shown in FIGURE 2.

Alternative means for holding the core in position in the body canobviously be used instead of the'key 16 and jack screw 17 of FIGURE 2.In the embodiment of FIGURE 5, spring loaded balls and 36 perform thefunction of the jack screw in pressing the core against the portion ofthe body wall containing the inlet orifice 29,

The ball 35 is retained Within an opening 37 through the wall of thebody'opposite to the inlet orifice and urged against the core by spring38 and screw 39. The pressure of the spring against the ball can bevaried by adjusting the screw in or out. A neck 40 of smaller diameterthan the ball is provided in opening 37' at the inner A string-up slot(not shown) is provided as in the case "-of the previous bulking jets,and string up can be accomalished in similar fashion by first removingthe core from I the body. However, in this embodiment, the core can.also be turned within the body to align the yarn passages .22 and24wwith the string-up slot so that the yarn can 'be placed within thepassages without removingthe core.

Rotation of the core to this position automatically stops the flow oftreating fluid, i.e., the core also acts as a valve.

After placing the yarn in the passages the core is turned .Eback tooperating position.

A handle inserted in hole :52, near the top of the core, provides meansfor rotating :the core when string up is to be accomplished in this;manner.

The core is precisely positioned for operation by a key or pin 53projecting from the core to engage slot 54 in block 55, which block issecured to the top of the jet body It). The slot is preferably of thebayonet socket type to stop rotation of the core when operating position:is' reached, and to disengage the pin 53 at another posi- 1 tion sothat the core can be removed from the body.

This embodiment also differs from the previous ones in that the bottomof the core and its tunnel 25 are curved to conform to the screensurface on which the treated yarn or tow is deposited (of a drumconveyor). This ;facilitates proper deposition on the screen. Since thisportion of the core projects from the body, no tunnel is provided in thebody.

Other modifications of the bulking jet comprehended the presentinvention include plural treatment orifices 29, 29' and 29" asillustrated in FIGURE 6, instead of the single orifice duct 23 shown inFIGURE 1. A more cohesive crimped yarn is produced by providing twoorifice ducts for directing treating fluid into the chamber 23 toimpinge against the yarn from different directions. Preferably, theducts are in a single plane which would be perpendicular to the paperwhen viewing the duct as in FIGURE 3, and the angle at is the same forboth. Parallel ducts can be used but it is preferable to have themconverge toward the yarn, an included angleof about 20 beingparticularly 'eflective. It is convenient to have ;the ductssuificiently close together to be supplied with treating fluid from asingle inlet 23.

The turbulent fluid used to crimp filamentary material may be air,steam, or any other gas or vapor capable of plasticizing action on theyarn provided that it has'a temperature above the second-ordertransition temperature of the filament. The fluid temperature may exceedthe melting point of the fibers. Hot air will give sulficientplasticization in the turbulent region for many fibers,

although it may be desirable for certain fibers to supplement thetemperature effect with an auxiliary plasticizing medium. Steam mayalso'be used inthe subject apparatus since it is a cheap and convenientsource of a high pressure fluid with adequate plasticizing action.

The apparatus of this invention can be used to crimp and bulk anynatural or synthetic plasticizable filamentary material. Thermoplasticmaterials such as polyamides, e.g., poly(epsiloncaproarnide),poly(hexamethylene adipamide); cellulose esters; polyesters, e.g.,polyethylene terephthalate, poly(hexahydro-p xylene terephthalate etc.;polyvinyls and polyacrylics, e.g., polyacrylonitrile; polyolefins, e.g.,polyethylene and polypropylene, as well as copolymers thereof can becrimped to a three-dimen sional, random, curvilinear configuration.While the preferred form of material is continuous filaments, thetreatment is useful with staple yarns as well. Both types of materialscan be made into bulky yarns and fabrics having improved bulk, coveringpower (opacity) and Continuous filaments of poly(hexamethyleneadipamide) were treated by the process previously designated, using thejet apparatus shown in FIGURES 1 to 3, and under the operatingconditions shown below:

The products were bulky crimped yarns characterized by a random,three-dimensional curvilinear crimp. The amplitude, permanence, andnumber of crirnps per unit of length in the filaments make these yarnsparticularly suitable for rug or pile yarns.

Example HI A I60 denier, continuous filament yarn of poly(hexamethyleneadipamide) with 13 filaments of trilobal cross-section was similarlyprocessed, using the jet apparatus of FIGURE 5. The treating fluid wasair at 70 p.s.i.g. pressure and 250 C. The yarn input linear speed was95% greater than the take-up speed. The crimped product had high bulkand cover, soft, dry hand, and improved dyeing characteristics which arede sirable for upholstery fabrics.

Since many different embodiments of the invention may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood thatthe invention is not limited by the specific illustrations except to theextent defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for treating synthetic filaments with hot gas orsteam to introduce a curvilinear crimp with a bulking jet havingpassages for a filamentary strand passing through the bulking jet, achamber for treating the strand during passage through the bulking jet,and means for introducing treating fluid into the chamber to impingeagainst the filaments; means for feeding a strand into the bulking jetfor treatment and conveyor means having a foraminous surface forreceiving the treated strand from the bulking jet, separating the strandfrom treating fluid and conveying the strand away; the improvementscomprising a bulking jet having a body with a recess, a removable corewhich mates Within the body recess and extends through the body, guidemeans for positioning the core within the body, locking means forholding the core in operating position within the body, strand passagesand a treating chamber cut into the surface of the core, a string-upslot through the body into the body recess located so as to be sealedfrom said passages and chamber when the core is in operating position,said string-up slot, passages and chamber being opened by removal of thecore from the body to provide for string up with a traveling endlessstrand, an orifice duct in the body for directing treating fluid intosaid chamber to intersect the direction of strand travel into thechamber at an angle of 10 to 70, and a tunnel located on the end of thecore for guiding the treated strand onto the foraminous surface of saidconveyor means.

2. A bulking jet as defined in claim 1 wherein said core has a generallycylindrical surface, said strand passages and treatment chamber are cutinto said cylindrical surface to guide the strand in an axial direction,and said body recess has a corresponding cylindrical surface which mateswith the surface of the core to bring the orifice duct and yarn treatingchamber into proper relation.

3. A bulking jet as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide means forpositioning the core within the body includes a block secured to one endof the core for limiting axial movement of the core into the bodyrecess, said block having a projecting key which engages said stringupslot in the body of the bulking jet.

4. A bulking jet as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means forholding the core within the body comprises a jack screw engaging saidstring-up slot in the body and threaded into the core.

5. A bulking jet as defined in claim 1 wherein said locking means forholding the core within the body comprises spring-loaded balls mountedin the body to press against the core.

6. A bulking jet as defined in claim 1 wherein said treating chamber hasa surface angled away from the direction of strand travel at an angle of30 to to provide an impact surface for the stream of treating fluid fromthe orifice duct.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 76,526 4/68Robertson 287--58 1,854,215 4/32 Mueller. 2,533,763 12/50 Cacciotti.2,842,387 7/ 58 Della-Porta 28758 2,995,801 8/61 Cormier et a1. 2813,055,080 9/ 62 Claussen et al. 281

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner.

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR TREATING SYNTHETIC FILAMENTS WITH HOT GAS ORSTEAM TO INTRODUCE A CURVILINEAR CRIMP WITH A BULKING JET HAVINGPASSAGES FOR A FILAMENTARY STRAND PASSING THROUGH THE BULKING JET, ACHAMBER FOR TREATING THE STRAND DURING PASSAGE THROUGH THE BULKING JET,AND MEANS FOR INTRODUCING TREATING FLUID INTO THE CHAMBER TO IMPINGEAGAIST THE FILAMENTS; MEANS FOR FEEDING A STRAND INTO THE BULKING JETFOR TREATMENT AND CONVEYOR MEANS HAVING A FORAMINOUS SURFACE FORRECEIVING THE TREATED STRAND FROM THE BULKING JET, SEPARATING THE STRANDFROM TREATING FLUID AND CONVEYING THE STRAND AWAY; THE IMPROVEMENTSCOMPRISING A BULKING JET HAVING A BODY WITH A RECESS, A REMOVALBE COREWHICH MATES WITHIN THE BODY RECESS AND EXTENDS THROUGH THE BODY, GUIDEMEANS FOR POSITIONING THE CORE WITHIN THE BODY, LOCKING MEANS FORHOLDING THE CORE IN OPERATING POSITION WITHIN THE BODY, STRAND PASSAGESAND A TREATING CHAMBER CUT INTO THE SURFACE OF THE CORE, A STRING-UPSLOT THROUGH THE BODY INTO